Former U.S. women's national team goalkeeper Hope Solo thinks Carli Lloyd is 'done', even though she believes she could physically make it to the 2023 Women's World Cup.
After the game, she was asked about her future and hinted that she may hang up her boots - as was 36-year-old Megan Rapinoe, who left the door more open to the future.
What has Solo said?
Speaking to Goal on the latest episode of All of US: The U.S. Women's Soccer Show, Solo discussed the decisions Lloyd and Rapinoe, as well as captain Becky Sauerbrunn, have to make, while also dissecting the Olympics as a whole as the USWNT look forward to the next stage under Andonovski.
"[Carli] is a beast at 39 and if she wanted to go [to the World Cup in two years], I would bank on it, from a physical standpoint. But from an emotional and a mental standpoint, I think she's done. I think we have seen Carli Lloyd play her last world championship game," Solo told Goal.
"Becky Sauerbrunn, I think she's irreplaceable, really. It's going to be really hard to find somebody who's consistent in the defence, who can just lock it down, who does her job, day in and day out, consistently.
"Becky is going to be really hard to replace. I know she can go two more years but, again, these women have personal lives and I know a lot of them want to move on with the personal aspects of their lives, which is really hard to do as a professional athlete.
"I think Megan is actually the least able, physically, to go. She's had knee issues. She has muscle strains from time to time. From a physical standpoint, it would be really hard for Megan, but I would put my money on her continuing to try to make that World Cup team in two years."
Despite many of this incredibly talented generation of players coming to the tail end of their careers, Solo is looking forward to the future as well, particularly what lies ahead for Tierna Davidson, the young defender who shone at these Olympics.
"I think we're gonna see her be the starting central defender for a long time to come - and I hope we do because I'm really inspired by Davidson," she said. "I like her style of play. She's a smart defender. She's a team player. She's always covering spaces as well as individual one-on-one players.
"She's a player that I would have loved to have played behind because you can tell that she does it for the team."
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'What Simone Biles did takes a lot of strength'
Solo also discussed the pressure that athletes have to deal with following the mass attention that U.S. gymnast Simone Biles, who won four Olympic gold medals in 2016, gained after her decision to withdraw from a number of events in Japan.
"Everybody goes through tough times in life, but then to deal with it when you're supposed to be at your best in front of an audience on TV, it comes with a lot of pressure and it comes with a lot of ups and downs," the former goalkeeper, who won two gold medals and a World Cup, said.
"Sometimes it's really hard to keep that happy face on for the cameras. That's what a lot of athletes are expected to do - like Simone Biles. She's America's sweetheart and she went out there and she said, 'You know what? I don't have it today.' That takes a lot of strength and it also takes a lot of strength, when you're not feeling good, to find a way to push through your routine or get through the game.
"Everybody has to deal with it differently. Not every person is the exact same. I lost my father going to my first World Cup and my way through healing and emotional pain was to play for him.
"Each athlete is very different, but to see the discussions now and kind of the recognition of what these athletes are giving us for entertainment back home as we watch TV, we should all be applauding them, whether it's a good performance or a bad performance because we have no idea the pressures they are going through."
